Warnings of moving to the south (New York, Rochester: insurance, chapel, broker)

[djvaly]

racism and labeling people is more common in South regardless of the size of the city/town population... it happens in North too but it is more mute and silent. but down south people speak up their stereotypical frustrations much easier.

[mhogan10010]

Originally Posted by mom2gurls

Reading this thread is very interesting--but for those that chose to move south...Isnt it better to pick a more metro city then at least. .

The previous poster moved to Dallas. That's a pretty big town.

[djvaly]

Originally Posted by mhogan10010

Probably a somehing to consider. It took me 12 years to finally give in and admit that I just didn't belong in the South. One size does not fit all.

true. need to find a good location in New England, PA area, don't like too much snow... the one reason I moved from CT. then find a job, buy a house then c'ya, I'm outta there

[rswindle]

I live in Duluth, GA which is a suburb of Atlanta. I moved here from Virginia and I must admit I have only traveled to NY (Rochester) once. I very much like living in the south and it's not so much the area you live it's the person you deal with. No matter where you go you will always find someone who is rude, inconsiderate, racist and intolerant. Happens here in Atlanta and in the very small town in which I grew up in Virginia. Anywhere can be a nice place to live if you truly want to be there. If you are unhappy with your surroundings then everything will be magnified.

[mhogan10010]

Originally Posted by rswindle

.If you are unhappy with your surroundings then everything will be magnified.

I think I had to realize that I would not be happy in the South, no matter what. I didn't like too many different things about life there. At the same time, I have friends who moved South and wouldn't ever go back.
I think your underlying affinity or dislike of a place will amplify things. Here in NYC, I seem to be able to ignore things because I fundamentally think living here is great. In the South, I constantly made comparisons to the North. I let the North/South thing get under my skin, because I had a good experience living in the North. I just couldn't feel that Southern living was superior. Most of my Southern friends just couldn't understand that.

[Tama]

Yes the fire ants and other bugs really threw me for a loop as well. For some reason?? the fire ant mounds have disappeared in my immediate area. Don't see them in the yard anymore at all. However, when I recently visited my mom back home I was constantly being warned about checking for deer ticks! We were walking a lot and it seems it is a bit of a ritual if outdoors. We don't have deer ticks of any significance in MS nor do we have those beetles everybody is putting traps out for.
I think the poster who suggested a larger city if going from the likes of NYC to the South is correct. I wouldn't want to live in an isolated town of 3,000 in the countryside of NY state anymore than one in the South. I guess one has to compare apples to apples. That is Brooklyn to Atlanta, Pittsburgh to Birmingham, and Richton to Homer, NY (in Cortland County). That makes a lot of sense.
When I was living in an eastern metropolis I couldn't imagine ever not being in a major city. I loved it. And now I think the South is heaven on earth. Go figure. I may be coming back East at some point and I'll bet I'll have a hard time at first. All those gray skies again, the impatience, the surly looks, the service people looking right past me as I if I didn't exist, and the bitter cold--brrrrr.... But, oh boy, real cheesesteaks!

[nyxmike]

Originally Posted by mom2gurls

Reading this thread is very interesting--but for those that chose to move south...Isnt it better to pick a more metro city then at least. It seems like alot of the bad experiences (being called a yankee or calling others a redneck)....come from more of the rural towns where the "sophistication" level is not as high..or perpaps there the people are more closed minded to new commers?

I would think..that if you move to an area that is more white collar, upscale and filled with much more population..you would meet more diverse people, more transplants, and the locals would be more accepting.

Is that true?

Nope - not true at all. Sometimes I think it is worse. See, in the South, cities are, as most people like to say, "nothing more than overgrown country towns". Since the urban areas of the South are growing the most, you will encounter these "bad experiences". It is sad because the South is nice and so are the homes, but the people absolutely stink. I would rather pay up the a$$ in NY than live down there and be surrounded by those people.

[hew2a]

Originally Posted by mom2gurls

Reading this thread is very interesting--but for those that chose to move south...Isnt it better to pick a more metro city then at least. It seems like alot of the bad experiences (being called a yankee or calling others a redneck)....come from more of the rural towns where the "sophistication" level is not as high..or perpaps there the people are more closed minded to new commers?

I would think..that if you move to an area that is more white collar, upscale and filled with much more population..you would meet more diverse people, more transplants, and the locals would be more accepting.

Is that true?

I couldn't have said it better. I mentioned this in my first post. I'm amazed at some of the places these people are moving. I mean, why? Is it a cheap house that's 3,500 sq ft? There's a price to pay for these seemingly pots of gold at the end of the seemingly rainbow. Again, I'm from the South. And as an African American, there are places I don't even think about going to. Yes, even in 2007 it's like that.

My girlfriends cousin told me about a high school football game where a majority black school in Nashville had to play a team from some rural county. Well, the school from Nashville won, and on the way home, the student drove there "Bigfoot" pickups around to where their buses were. They began blasting country music and that Dixie Horn (like on Dukes of Hazzard). They had the huge rebel flags waving on the back of their trucks. Needless to say, they Nashville school "got the heck up out of Dodge". But it goes to show that those areas do exist. And for Northerners to make a home there, I just luagh like "what are you thinking?" But maybe they know something I don't.

But again, you can't form a general opinion of the South based on the most rural of places. I'm sure the North has it's version of the "redneck". At least that's what I've encountered and been told. True, Dallas is a different story. But like mhogan10010 said, it just may not be the place for you. It is what it is, so if you find that you can love it or come to love it, make it work. If not, find the place that does work.

[jp03]

Hmmm...generalizing is never a good thing.

[njkate]

We have been looking in North carolina, South Carolina & Georgia
Coming from NJ just 40 miles west of NYC I am beginning to think that all though we can buy a brand new house, cheap taxes, less expensive car insurance, it ain't Kansas LOL

My husband is the type that likes to go to the neighborhood pub after work, have a few brews, shoot some pool....even when retired he will want to do this after fishing or golf.....in all the areas I looked there are no so called neighborhood pubs...if you're lucky you may have a chain, Applebees et al and it's not the same not even close.

I know some may now be rolling their eyes as to why I would base a move on neighborhood pubs but it's the social networking thing that I'm beginning to think is something you only find in the North East.

I know in my heart all though he is tired of North eastern winters he's not going to be happy in any of those places unless he will move in to Charleston or Savannah but he doesn't care for cities, guess I'll have to have the kids convince him or keep a place up here as well as down south all though that defeats the purpose of cheaper living......